Live-in Lawmakers Face Shower Shutdown

For the two dozen or so members of Congress who live in their offices, a government shutdown will be personal. The shutdown will close the gym in the Rayburn House Office Building and the shower that the members use, The Washington Post reports.

The office-living members, who are making a political statement about the evils of Washington or about the cost of housing in the nation’s capital, will have few personal hygiene choices. There are a small number of showers hidden away in the labyrinth of the Capitol and its attendant office buildings, the Post said.

One is located in men’s bathroom in the sub-basement of a tunnel connecting the Cannon Office Building and the Longworth Office Building. That is the choice of Rep. Hansen Clarke, D-Mich., who lives in the Longworth building. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., plans to impose on a friend should a shutdown occur, the Post said.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who has lived in his office for three years, will probably go to a local YMCA, but couldn’t resist a jab at those across the aisle. “Maybe Senator Reid will let me borrow some soap and suds up at his suite at the Ritz,” he said according to the Post, referring to the one-bedroom apartment at the Ritz-Carlton that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid lives in when he is in Washington.